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Enlarge ImageRequest to buy this photoPablo Martinez Monsivais | ASSOCIATED PRESSDemocratic House leaders Nancy Pelosi, from left, James Clyburn, Steny Hoyer and Steve Israel confer with reporters after meeting with President Barack Obama. The Democrats talked about the budget crisis last night. Republican House leaders will meet with the president today.

WASHINGTON — As the government inches closer to a default, House Speaker John Boehner and senior
House Republican lawmakers will meet today at the White House with President Barack Obama in an
effort to break an impasse that has kept the government partially closed since last week.

The session takes place as investors fear Congress and the president cannot put aside their deep
divisions to reopen the government and raise the government’s $16.7 trillion debt ceiling. Obama
met with congressional Democrats last night.

Without Congress raising the debt ceiling, the Treasury Department might not be able to borrow
money to pay the government’s bills starting sometime next week, which would amount to the first
default in the nation’s history.

In one key development yesterday, the Pentagon said it would contract with a charity group, the
Fisher House, to provide benefits to the families of service members killed in action, and that it
would reimburse the group once the government shutdown has ended.

Just before the announcement, the House voted unanimously to restore the benefits, which were
not covered by earlier legislation that ensured that active-duty soldiers and civilian support
staff members were paid for their work, although many Republicans suggested that the administration
had the power to prevent the benefits from lapsing.

Because of the shutdown, the Pentagon said it was unable to pay the death benefits expected by
families of the fallen, which include $100,000 to each family; a 12-month basic allowance for
housing, usually given in a lump sum to survivors commensurate with the rank of the service member;
and burial benefits.

In addition to Boehner, R-West Chester, Republicans scheduled to meet with Obama today include
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan of
Wisconsin and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp of Michigan.

Brendan Buck, a Boehner spokesman, said, “It is our hope that this will be a constructive
meeting and that the president finally recognizes Americans expect their leaders to be able to sit
down and resolve their differences.”

In their race against time, Obama and Congress are dealing with two separate issues that could
deliver a powerful wallop against the sluggish U.S. economy. Obama has insisted he will negotiate
with Republicans after they agree to reopen the government and raise the debt ceiling.

Republicans demand that Obama revise or delay sections of the 2010 health-care law he signed in
return for opening the entire government. Before increasing the debt ceiling, GOP lawmakers insist
that the White House agree to restrain federal spending.

“We have a huge deficit and debt problem,” said Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Urbana. “I believe the
president of the greatest country in the world at some point is going to say, ‘Let’s talk.’”

The White House meeting takes place as even the most- conservative lawmakers from Ohio warned
that a government default would have a severe impact on the U.S. economy. By doing so, they
appeared to distance themselves from a handful of conservatives who have downplayed the impact of a
default.

“No one wants to go there,” said Jordan, a leader of the most-conservative GOP lawmakers.

Rep. Pat Tiberi, R-Genoa Township, said he did not “want to bet on the markets going down, and
that’s why we have to raise the debt ceiling. But the president can’t have his way. For him to say
he won’t negotiate is unreasonable. We shouldn’t be gambling with our neighbors’ 401(k) plans.”

As the political exchanges have grown increasingly testy, Republican Steve Stivers of Upper
Arlington said he has joined a handful of lawmakers from both parties to see if a compromise can be
reached.

“I’m not waiting for President Obama, (Senate Majority Leader) Harry Reid or John Boehner for a
top-down (solution),” Stivers said. “I’ve been working with House Republicans and Democrats to talk
about what we might be willing to accept in a bigger picture,” adding that the goal was to produce
a compromise that could win the votes of half the House Republicans and half the House
Democrats.